Books I Read in January and February

Man it's been ages since I've done a good book review post, and I'm so excited that I actually have time to read again and can write posts like this again. They're truthfully some of my favorite to write.

I'm going to try to get back on track and do these monthly, but for now, here's a quick look at what I read during the first two months of the year.

Books I read in January

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

This was an awesome book that I couldn't put down. I read most of it in one night and was captivated by the inner workings of the Plumb family. Have a suspicion this will be one of my favorite books of 2017.

The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter

I always love discovering a new author that writes crime/suspense thrillers. I stumbled upon this book because it was recommended in one of my Skimm emails a while back. I loved the twisting plot, and I'm looking forward to reading other books in this series.

Falling by Jane Green

I love Jane Green's story-telling ability, and I loved the characters in this book. But I hated, I mean hated the ending.

[Spoiler alert] One of the main characters dies after falling off a roof -- which was just an ending that hit a little creepily too close to home.

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

This book started rocketing up the best-seller list a couple years ago and a bunch of my single-lady friends read it and said they learned a lot about communication styles. I happened to see the book at the library recently so I picked it up. It was a super quick read, but also super thought-provoking. While it's obviously written for married people, I actually think a ton of the "languages" Chapman talks about can be used in relationships between friends, family members and even coworkers. The book made me think a lot (but not in a bad way), and I really enjoyed that.

High Dive by Jonathan Lee

Too much description, not enough driving action. This book had the promise of being really engaging and grippy, but it just fell totally flat with too much down time and unimportant action between the book's main events.

Books I read in February

Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead

This book started out OK, but it never really picked up the way I hoped it would. I think there were too many stories going on and a couple characters I really just couldn't get in to.

Two By Two by Nicholas Sparks

This wasn't one of my favorite Sparks books. First off it was nearly 500 pages, which is long for any book, but especially a Sparks book. The first 200 plus pages were really depressing because they focused on a crumbling marriage. When we finally hit the point in the book where the wife asked for a divorce, I felt like things started to moderately improve. Overall, I think I enjoyed the booked, but those first 200 pages were a struggle because they were so depressing.

First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies by Kate Andersen Brower

The parts of this book I really enjoyed were the parts where we got to learn how each first lady from Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama put their own spin on the office of first lady. I liked the parts that covered their political trips, their own causes and the way they tried to maintain (or not) their own identities in the White House, where they were often overshadowed by their husbands. There were parts of this book though that I thought read a bit like a catty gossip column -- and I just didn't love those parts. Overall though, a good and interesting read about these women and their roles in the White House.

Wow looking back on this list, I read some seriously subpar books in January and February. I'm going to have to make it a goal to stop reading books that suck (I'm looking at you High Dive) rather than try to fight my way through them. Got to embrace what my friend once said, "Life's too short to finish bad books."

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About me

My name's Jess and I'm the writer/runner here at Jess Runs. This blog covers all aspects of running, health and fitness, including training, nutrition, motivation and making running fun. You can contact me at jess@jessruns.com.